French stance dashes Ireland’s replay hopes

IRISH hopes of a re-staging of the controversial second leg of their World Cup play-off game against France were dashed last night when it became clear that the French Football Federation (FFF) see no basis for such a game to take place.

While pressure for a replay continued to mount in Ireland, sources in Paris rubbished the idea, pointing to a statement on their official website from Federation President Jean Pierre Escalettes in which he congratulated Les Bleus on qualifying for South Africa – and conspicuously made no mention whatsoever about the controversy surrounding Thierry Henry’s hand in the decisive goal from William Gallas.

However, Escalettes did make a point of mentioning Nicolas Anelka’s penalty claim in what observers interpreted as a deliberate reflection of the apparently widely-held view in France that contentious incidents balanced each other out over the course of the two legs of the play-off. While there were reports from Zurich last night that FIFA were adopting a “wait and see” policy with regard to the FAI’s appeal to restage the game, it’s understood that football’s world governing body would not even consider such a possibility without a specific request from the FFF. And all the evidence now suggests that this will simply not be forthcoming.